With 117 million men, women and children now forced from their homes, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Barham Salih has warned that the global support system for asylum-seekers is at risk of buckling, as the agency has received only $3 billion of the $8.5 billion it needs this year, according to UN News. Speaking on 12 October 2026 in his first keynote address to UNHCR's Executive Committee meeting in Geneva, Mr. Salih stressed that the world's most vulnerable are going without the help they need. He cautioned that deep funding cuts are straining the post-Second World War pledge that people fleeing persecution should be protected and not returned to places where they might be in danger.